Roasted Carrot Hummus and the One Pot Gourmet Gardener Review
I can't recommend this Roasted Carrot Hummus highly enough, it is so good.
It's one of the recipes in the One-Pot Gourmet Gardener by Cinead McTernan,delicious container recipes to grow together and cook together. If you have been following my blog then you'll know that I'm growing vegetables in containers this year, so this book is right up my street.
Author CINEAD McTERNAN is a horticulturally trained writer and gardening editor of The Simple Things magazine. She was previously editor of The Edible Garden magazine and worked on The English Garden and BBC Gardeners’ World magazines. Her previous book Kitchen Garden Experts was published by Frances Lincoln in 2014.
Award-winning photographer JASON INGRAM has worked on numerous garden and food magazines. His published books include The Ethicurean Cookbook and Kitchen Garden Experts
The Blurb
With these exciting container recipes, you can grow all the ingredients you need for a single dish in a single pot. One-Pot Gourmet Gardener presents 25 carefully devised container recipes grouped into soups and salads, delicious main courses, handy picnics, quick suppers and divine drinks and puddings, including gazpacho, garden pizza, ratatouille, smoothies, sauces and tarts. Each one-pot recipe provides every step from sowing to serving. And after being guided through an introductory masterclass on how to grow crops in pots, readers will have the confidence and skills to devise their own one-pot recipes. With a little planning you can prepare the food for a one-pot celebration, when you sow the crops in spring!
My thoughts
The concept of this book is simple, plant up a container with a variety of herb and vegetable plants, then when they have grown, you are ready to make the recipe. All of this is explained in the Introduction which tells you how to get started and encourages everyone with even the smallest patio balcony or roof garden to give growing your own a go. Everything from choosing a pot, tools and equipment to compost, positioning your pot, watering, pests and diseases, harvesting and storage is covered at the start of the book .
The Recipes
For each recipe there is a 'Grow Me' section and an 'Eat Me' section. Here are some of the recipes which I found attractive: Courgette and Fennel Tart, Hummus Three Ways (including Carrot Hummus), Honey and Thyme Blackberries with Thyme Shortbreads. Kale and Celery Soup, Rainbow Chard Pesto, Radish and Shallot Pickle and Pimms Jelly.
Who is it for?
Anyone who wants to grow vegetables in containers, but also cooks who would like to try making something a bit different with produce. Whether you grow your own vegetables or not, you can still enjoy the produce from farmers markets or greengrocers or even the supermarket.
Pros
Everything you need to learn how to grow vegetables and herbs in containers. A variety of interesting, well written recipes, good photographs and clear instructions for sowing and growing.
Cons
For those of us living a bit further north, some of the containers would be unlikely to thrive. I know this because I have been gardening for many years, however not everyone would be aware that tomatoes and aubergines are unlikely to thrive outside in Scotland and might be disappointed, especially in a summer like this one, where even my courgettes have failed to thrive. Some information on regional differences would have been helpful.
The Verdict
A fun book which would be a good gift for a gardening cook or a cooking gardener! The containers looks as attractive as containers of flowers with the variety of plants really complementing each other. As you will see below, I was impressed by the Carrot Hummus, and I'm sure many of the other recipes will be well worth making too.
Roasted Carrot Hummus
200g/7oz carrots
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 x 440g/15oz tin cooked chickpeas
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 heaped tsp tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp ground cumin
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
Place the carrots on a baking sheet, drizzle with oilive il an season. Roast in the oven until soft - about 30 minutes.
When the carrots have cooked, place them adn the remainder of the ingredients into amixer and blitz until blended and smooth. Spoon into a bowl and level to remove any air pockets.
Serve immediately, with warm pitta bread, or cover with a film of olive oil to preserve it and store in the refrigerator.
As I said at the beginning of this post, this is a truly delightful recipe, roasting the carrots brings out the sweetness and combined with the other ingredients it makes a delicious spread or dip.
To order One-Pot Gourmet Gardener at the discounted price of £12.99 including p&p* (RRP: £16.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG311. *UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
There is no end to the creative ways to make Hummus, here are some to get you started:
Wild Garlic Hummus, Wild Garlic Pesto and Green Chicken - Obsessed by Spring Foraging
I make a batch of hummus every month and freeze it in portions, so we always have hummus available, it's my husband's favourite filling for his lunchtime sandwich. I was looking for ways to use the wild garlic I had picked and, as hummus contains garlic, I decided to try making it with wild garlic.
Sometimes I forget just how fortunate I am to live in the country, mostly in the cold dark days of winter. However, I am reminded of the joys of country living in spring when everything starts to grow again. Close to where I live there are some woods with a burn (stream) running through them and this is my favourite place to walk. This year the Wild Garlic (Ransoms) have gone completely berserk and are covering the roadsides as well as the side of this little waterway.
We even had a late flurry of snow this weekend but you can see that the flowers are nearly ready to pop on this particular wild garlic plant.
Wild Garlic Hummus
250g cooked chickpeas
3 tablespoons of tahini
1 lemon, juiced
50g wild garlic, roughly torn
60ml olive oil
some of the cooking liquid from the chickpeas or water
Put all the ingredients into your food processor and process. Add cooking liquid or water until you have the thickness and texture you prefer.
Wild Garlic Pesto
If you ask how best to preserve foraged wild garlic you will find many people will direct you to make pesto. So I did! It has a stunning colour and an intense flavour and you can freeze it for later.
You need:
100g wild garlic leaves, roughly torn
50g nuts (I used almonds)
200 ml oil (I used olive oil)
75g cheese (I used a combination of grated cheddar and parmesan)
Pinch of sea salt
Place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Serve with pasta, risotto or however you would usually serve pesto.
Green Chicken or Turkey Breast
It looks a bit lurid when you first rub this mixture over your chicken or turkey, but it mellows down once cooked and and adds a subtle garlic flavour to the meat.
40 g wild garlic
1 tsp lemon zest
juice of 1 lemon
125 ml of olive oil
Roughly tear up the wild garlic leaves and put them and the rest of the ingredients in a blender and whizz until smooth.
Loosen the skin of the chicken or turkey breast and rub some of the mixture under the skin, directly onto the breast meat. Then rub the rest of the mixture over the whole bird.
Roast breast side up for 20 minutes at 180C, then turn over and roast for the time appropriate to the size of your bird to make sure it is cooked through. Test by piercing with a skewer at the thickest part and the juices will run clear when it is cooked.
Wild Garlic Omelette
A very simple dish but one which really makes the flavour of the wild garlic the main feature.
3 free range eggs
1 tablespoon of water
4 or 5 Wild Garlic leaves, finely shredded
a knob of butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Beat the eggs and water together and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Melt the butter in the omelette pan (I actually keep a pan only for omelettes but any good pan will do) on a medium heat until it starts to sizzle.
Pour in the eggs and as they start to set push the outside edges towards the centre and tip the pan to all the uncooked egg on top to fill the gaps, do this for about 30 seconds then add the wild garlic leaves.
When the egg is almost but not quite cooked, Fold the omelette over onto itself , there should still be a soft oozy bit in the middle. Serve with brown bread and butter and a green salad.
I hope you have enjoyed this foray into the world of foraged food and you are encouraged to seek out some wild food for yourself. Please be very careful what you pick and where you pick it from, getting someone to show you which plants are safe is the best way to learn.
I saw a photograph of a Courgette (Zucchini) and Hummus Pizza on Pinterest, unfortunately the link went to a blog that was private so I wasn't able to get the recipe, however I was intrigued by this unusual topping, so decided to have a go myself.
Having recently returned from Appleby and the Lake District via Little Salkeld Mill, near Penrith, where you can see the flour milled, enjoy the delights of the cafe and stock up on all the organic goodies.
Courgette and Hummus Pizza For the dough 2 tsp fast action dried yeast 300ml milk 200g spelt flour 300g strong white flour 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 3 tbsp plain yogurt 30g butter, melted This quantity of flour will make one large pizza and three flat breads or two large pizzas. Just half the quantities if you only want enough for one pizza. For the topping
1 large courgette (zucchini) finely sliced
200g hummus (I used homemade, if you can try and find one that is not completely smooth but any will do)
100g Tickler Extra Mature Cheddar with Red Onions (or cheese of your choice)
I made my dough in the bread maker, but if you want to make it by hand, put all the ingredients in a large bowl and add the salt and the yeast keeping them away from each other. Add the olive oil and 150ml of the water and mix. Add the remaining water a little at a time until you have a smooth, soft dough.
Tip the dough onto an oiled surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth. Leave to rise until doubled in size. Split off enough dough for your pizza and roll is or press it onto a tray, spread the hummus in a thick layer over the dough, place the slices of courgette over the hummus. Crumble the mature cheddar and scatter over the pizza. Cover the pizza with oiled cling film and leave to rise for a further 30 minutes. Bake at 200C for 20-30 minutes until the base is cooked, the courgettes have crisped and the cheese is melted and golden. The combination of the hummus and courgette was absolutely brilliant! The spelt base was soft rather than crispy but full of flavour, the red onion in the cheese also worked well with the combination, but you could add some finely chopped red onion to the topping to compensate if you don't have this cheese. I had the opportunity to try out the new Clean Cut Pizza Wheel from OXO Good Grips, so here is the result, it was easy to hold and cut through the topping and base with ease. I also liked the plastic cover for the sharp blade although it can be a little tricky to get the cover off! See the pizza cutter in action in this little video.
Clean Cut Pizza Wheel:For the perfect pizza party, use the OXO Good Grips Clean Cut Pizza Wheel. This hand-held pizza slicer provides leverage and control for easy slicing and the 10cm stainless steel wheel easily cuts through thin- or thick-crust pizza. The soft, comfortable, non-slip grip will make portioning out slices for everyone a breeze. The handle comes apart and blade removes for easy cleaning, and the blade guard snaps on to protect the blade and hands for storage. The Pizza Wheel is dishwasher safe. RRP £10
This blog reflects my love of cooking, cookery books, blogs and recipe websites. I love to eat, so welcome to my farm kitchen, come and see what I am cooking and eating today.
